Night of Beginnings
Prologue With the taste of blood lingering on her tongue and an adventurous glint her eyes, the brown and white she-cat bounded across the forest floor. She was quiet and graceful, each leap perfected from moons of practice. She found the hints of her camp’s scent close by, inhaling the smells of her Clanmates. Skidding to a stop, the she-cat peered into the shadowed camp, pushing past a few brambles to enter. “Who’s there?” An alarmed hiss surprised the approaching she-cat. “It’s just me,” she mewed in reply, walking into the moonlight that showered the camp. The other she-cat let out a sigh of relief, and went back to her guarding. “Be more careful next time, Birchtalon. I can still see the scratches on your pelt…” The ginger she-cat trailed off. Birchtalon nodded reluctantly. “It was worth getting that retched fox out of ThunderClan territory,” she smiled, her eyes gleaming. “You should’ve seen the look on its face when it saw me racing after it!” “Remind me again why you went out there in the middle of the night?” The ginger tabby rolled her eyes, shaking her head with disappointment. “Well, nobody was taking any immediate action towards the threat,” Birchtalon lifted a paw, licking it thoughtfully. “My sister at least deserves a night without worry for once.” The she-cat smiled. “I’m glad you’re looking out for her,” was all she said in response. “You know, she named the kits while you were gone.” “Really?” Birchtalon gasped, her eyes growing wide. “Thanks, Stripedsun!” She turned, and ran off excitedly towards the nursery. “She’s probably asleep!” Stripedsun called out to her, worried the young warrior would wake the kits. “Doesn’t matter!” Birchtalon laughed back, disappearing into the darkness of the overgrown tree. The brown and white she-cat pushed through a few overhanging branches, seeing her sister silently curled around her kits. Birchtalon smiled, glancing towards the other pregnant queen. Her belly wasn't very swollen, due to her only realizing her pregnancy a quarter moon ago. She was excited to have new Clanmates to hopefully train in a few moons. The warrior's hunger for an apprentice was high, for she dreamed of having a cat to train in the ways of ThunderClan. "Birchtalon?" A quiet, drowsy voice alerted the young she-cat. "Came to see the kits?" Birchtalon caught sight of Lilypetal, a pretty brown tabby, rousing from her rest. Birchtalon nodded towards her. "Yep!" She kept her voice down, giving a few careful looks towards the sleeping kits. A loud yawn surprised Birchtalon, who turned to see her sister looking up with sleepy eyes. "Hello," her sister, Roseleaf, murmured. The warrior bounded towards Roseleaf, nuzzling her sister and looking pleased towards to kits. "They look a lot like Jaywind..." Birchtalon couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice. The brown and white she-cat was displeased none of them resembled her brown tabby sister. "But so very beautiful," Roseleaf sighed happily, curling up tightly around the three bundles. "Would you like to hear their names?" Birchtalon nodded eagerly. "Of course," she purred. Roseleaf pulled her thick, brown tail away from the three small kits, revealing an array of grey toned fur. "This is Dimkit, Silverkit, and Ashkit." Her proud eyes rested on her offspring, but she returned it to Birchtalon, a smile on her face. The brown and white she-cat settled herself by her sister and her kin. "They look so strong," Birchtalon sighed, pleased with the three newnborns that lay below her. "Jaywind must be proud," Lilypetal piped up from the other side of the nursery. "I can only hope mine are just as perfect." She glanced down towards her belly, giving the fur a few licks to groom. "I'm sure they will," the other queen mewed in response. ~_~_~_~_~ The storm raged on, but instead of clouds there were a flurry of claws, and blood replaced the rain. A brown and white she-cat was pinning down a dark ginger tom, spitting in his face. "You think you can invade ThunderClan camp so easily?" She struggled, her wounds causing her an enormous amount of pain. However, she stood her ground. He squirmed beneath her grip, and paused for a second. "Yes I can!" He hissed in reply, seeing an escape as he raked his free paw against Birchtalon's soft belly. She screeched in agony, toppling to her side as the ginger tom slipped from under her. He sneered at her, shaking his head in a mocking way. "I thought I'd get a tougher fight," he rolled his eyes, quickly giving his wounds a quick lick. "I'm not over with you rogue!" Birchtalon rose to her paws, shaking violently as she attempted to stand. "You can't defeat a warrior!" His dark green eyes inspected her stomach wound, and he smiled darkly. "I think I already have," he meowed quietly, turning his back on her, ready to head back into battle. The she-cat crouched low, thinking for a few moments as she watched him creep away. She released a powerful lunge, landing directly on his back. The two fell to the forest floor, cats letting out yowls as they continued battling. She battered her paws against his muscular body in blind rage, not knowing if she was landing a clean strike. After shaking away some dizziness, she saw that she had inflicted some damage on the ginger rogue. "Rotten piece of fox-dung!" The rogue desperately tried to catch his breath, blood streaming from a wound on his shoulder. Before he could continue, he saw cats racing away from the camp, disappearing into the undergrowth of the forest. With a growl of dismay, he began to run off after them. "Quick, they're escaping!" Birchtalon heard her leader, Oakstar, cry out to her Clanmates. She could feel a firey pain deep in her belly, but she couldn't let the repulsive rogues escape without punishment! The brown and white she-cat began to follow after her Clan, almost about to exit camp. But something caught in her eye, she slowly turned to see a brown tabby, unmoving, in the center of camp. "It... It can't be..." Birchtalon paused, and shook her head, pain returning to her. The warrior began to run back, skidding to a stop by the side of the cat. She began to violently lash her tail. "No!" She yowled out. "No, no, no, no.... Please... Please just be a rogue..." She shoved her nose into the thick fur of the tabby, wrapping herself in the scent of her sister. "Roseleaf, you gotta get up," Birchtalon pleaded, the agonizing ache in her stomach growing stronger until it numbed her senses, "there's still rogues, we have to get going!" Silence. "Leafbreeze!" Birchtalon sobbed, searching the camp for ThunderClan's medicine cat. Sadly, the dappled brown she-cat had followed the others out of camp. "Anyone! Please... Please!" She screamed. The warrior turned back to her sister, tears welling in her eyes as blood began to drip from her stomach to her legs. "Your kits... They just became apprentices. They need you, Roseleaf. They need a loving mother to guide them through life...." Her voice caught in her throat, vision growing blurry from the tears. "Just get up! Get up!" Birchtalon screeched her empty demand, her mind set in denial. Suddenly, the pain overwhelmed her and she collapsed. "Oh Roseleaf," she cried into her sister's cold fur, "they need you so much..." Her voice was growing softer, overcome by such a flurry of emotions. "I-I need you..." "H-help," her voice was just a simple whimper, echoing softly into the forest. She could feel the blood of Roseleaf's intermingling with her's. Birchtalon couldn't struggle to her paws, she could barely move. All she could do was let out pitiful cries to try to alert her Clanmates and search the entrance of camp with her eyes. "Perhaps..." Her meow faded quickly. "Perhaps it wouldn't be that bad to just... Lay here with you." Blood was dribbling from her mouth, and her mind felt blank, far off even. The pain in her stomach was ebbing and she smiled softly. "Roseleaf?" Her blurry eyesight could barely see her sister's outline in front of her. "Hello, Birchtalon." A familiar purr echoed in her ear, the last sound she would ever hear. Chapter One